


Ours was a good life

by not_a_total_basket_case



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode: s05e13 Damocles Part 2, F/M, Season Finale, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 07:58:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15626265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/not_a_total_basket_case/pseuds/not_a_total_basket_case
Summary: Based on Monty's video logs from the finale.





	Ours was a good life

**Author's Note:**

> I cried like five hundred times while I wrote this. I rewatched that finale scene over and over again. My heart is broken. I hope y'all enjoy this. I'm kind of proud. 
> 
> Unedited, we die like men.

They’ve only been back in space a year and Monty is starting to lose his mind. He loves that there is peace and quiet, he loves there is not threat of death looming over their heads, he loves that he can spend as much time in his algae farm as he wants. And he loves that he’s with Harper. But he also misses his friends like nothing else.

He spent six years in space getting to know these people, they’re his family. And now he has another nine years before he can see them again. He wants to hear Murphy snark about the algae. He wants to listen to Raven and Emori talk tech that he can only just keep up with. He wants to listen to Echo long for the ground. He just wants to have another conversation with Bellamy. He even wants to just sit with Clarke and talk about Eden. He misses his family.

But they’d agreed not to wake them for a reason. If any of them, not just his space family, were to find out that they hadn’t gone to sleep, convincing them to back into cryo would be nearly impossible. They don’t need anyone else to stay awake. The two of them can monitor the ground easily enough. They don’t _need_ anyone else. But it would be nice.

He’s played so many different variation of card games that they’ve kind of melded into one messy game that no one else would ever understand. Harper can walk the entire length of the ship with a soccer ball balanced on her head. His algae soup is substantially better than their first year in space last time and it’s blooming twice as fast. He tells Harper it’s because the algae can’t hear the negativity from the others.

He’s pacing the cryo chamber, looking at each of his friends. It’s tempting to wake any of them up. Even Octavia. It would probably be cathartic to have a discussion about the bunker with her.

“I thought I’d find you down here,” Harper says softly. She’s standing in the doorway looking at him. She could have been there for hours, Monty has been so lost in his thoughts.

“I just miss them,” Monty tells her, walking towards her and wrapping his arms around her waist. He buries his face in her neck and sighs. He has Harper. She’s all he needs.

“I know,” Harper whispers. “I miss them too. But they’re asleep for a reason.”

“I just want to talk to them.”

“What if you could?” She asks, eyes soft. But then quickly adds, “Without waking them.”

“What have you got in mind?” Monty asks, curious despite himself.

“What if we left them video logs? So they can look back on what we’ve been doing. Then you could speak to them.”

It’s a good idea. Monty’s surprised it’s taken them a year to think of it. Recording what they’ve done and how the earth is doing is probably something they should have been doing from the beginning. Not that they have found much worth recording.

He doesn’t make a video log straight away. He’s not really sure what to tell them. ‘ _Hi, sorry we didn’t go to sleep. We wanted to monitor the earth?’_ He just feels like his friends are going to be mad. But it’s something he has to do.

It’s a week later that he finally starts the video. He starts and deletes it five times before he gets into it. He’d heard that Clarke had done this everyday for six years, hoping that Bellamy was hearing her. He can’t help wondering if she felt as awkward then as he does now.

“Hey guys,” he starts, “it’s been about a year since you all went to bed. Not much to report, really. My algae farm is awesome. No surprise there...” He tells them, future Bellamy and Clarke and their friends, about the conditions on earth. How nothing has changed. How he can monitor it from where they are. He’s going to start talking about how much he misses them when Harper saunters into the room.

He tries to tell her what he’s doing but she keeps interrupting, until she glances down and sees the screen, ducking straight out of it.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She accuses, though she’s giggling.

“Not a lot to do in space,” he says, not bothering to hide the smile on his face. He loves her. They know that.

He considers deleting the video and starting again but eventually decides not to. That’s them. That’s what their last year in space has been. He wants his friends to see this when they wake up.

*

He doesn’t record everyday, like Clarke did, but he does leave messages when he thinks of a fun memory or when Harper says something that he thinks the others will like. He likes being able to record their time alone, even if there really isn’t much to stay.

Five months later he’s looking for Harper and he can’t find her. They’re on a spaceship, there really isn’t that many places she could be. It only takes him five minutes to check all the rooms they normally use and determine they’re all empty.

He finally finds her, in the cryo chamber, a place they’d both agreed to avoid. She’s sitting cross legged on the floor, between Abby and Clarke’s pods. She doesn’t look up when he comes in but takes his hand when he sits down beside her.

“What’s on your mind?” He asks, letting her lean into him.

“We need a doctor,” she says quietly. Her eyes are locked on Abby’s control panel and Monty can’t tell what she’s thinking. He panics. Is she sick? He knows Clarke was worried about her dad's illness. But she seems fine.

“What’s going on?” He asks, taking her face gently and turning her to look at him. Her eyes are glassy but she finally smiles.

“I’m pregnant, Monty,” her laugh is a little watery, but it’s genuine. “We’re going to have a baby.”

Monty dives on her, wrapping his arms around her neck and pulling her towards him for a kiss. They’re going to have a baby. They’re not going to be alone. They’re going to have a chance to do good.

“We’re going to have a baby?” He asks, feeling the tears prick in his own eyes. “Are you sure?”

“I’m positive,” she says, nodding her head and wiping her own eyes. “I think in about seven months.”

They talk about waking Clarke or Abby for months. But by now Harper knows almost as much as Clarke does and they have the equipment so she can do everything herself or talk Monty through it. They don’t _need_ the help. It would just be nice to have it once she went into labour. He’s not sure he can do it alone.

“We won’t be alone,” Harper says over algae soup, though she’s convincing herself as much as she’s convincing him. “If we need anything we can wake up Abby straight away.”

“Okay,” Monty agrees. “We can do this.”

“We could call the baby Al,” Harper says, looking down at her soup and grinning. “After algae, your true love.”

“Works for a boy or a girl,” Monty agrees, reaching over to touch Harper’s stomach. “Do you like the sound of Al?” The baby kicks, probably in protest, and Monty gasps, like he always does. He can’t believe they have made something that is going to be so perfect.

“I’ve got another idea, for a boy or girl,” Harper says softly, placing her hand over his. “What about Jordan?”

The tears in Monty’s eyes spring up before he even finishes processing what she’s said. Jordan. After his best friend. His brother. The person he’d loved more than anything. The person he couldn’t save. Jasper, who would have been so excited to meet his nephew. Who deserved so much more than he got. Deserved to be more than a teenager sent to the ground to die.

“It’s perfect,” Monty agrees, running his hand gently over the swell of Harper’s belly.

“It’s been two years today, is it time to make another video?” Harper asks after a minute of silence, “Before we introduce Jordan, should we tell them we’re expecting Jordan?”

Hearing her say the name brings tears to his eyes again, happy tears. Their baby. They’re going to introduce their baby.

The move to the camera is slow, Harper is walking a lot slower than she used to and Monty is full of excited energy but they eventually make it. He sets the camera up, making sure Harper’s belly is in view.

“Hey again,” he says. “Today is the two year anniversary of the long nap. Harper’s been eating a little too much algae.” The lame joke slips out without thinking, but Harper’s soft laugh takes away any desire to start the video again. He could listen to her laugh all day.

“Hilarious,” she says. “Hey guys, umm, surprise!” She talks about how far along she is, how she’s been monitoring everything and that they decided not to wake anyone.

“We picked a name today. Boy or girl. Jordan,” she adds.

“I think Jasper would like that,” Monty adds, this time smiling at the mention of his friend. He doesn’t spend too much time talking about the ground, not wanting to focus on the fact that nothing has changed. He doesn’t think it should have yet, but it’s a little disheartening that it hasn’t.

*

Not even two full days later Harper goes into labour. Monty spends the nine hours in a panic stricken state, acting like he’s not, while Harper talks him through everything that needs to be done. He wants to wake Abby or Clarke or Diyoza or anyone, but Harper convinces him they can do it alone. And they do.

Jordan Jasper Green is born at 2:15am, on May tenth 2158 and is the definition of perfection. Harper and Monty sit and stare at him for almost an hour before she falls asleep.

Wanting to let her rest, Monty takes Jordan into the control room and sets up the camera.

“Meet Jordan Jasper Green,” Monty says, holding the baby up to the camera and then drawing him back to his chest. He momentarily forgets about the recording and looks down at his son, murmuring soothing words. This is what pure bliss looks like. “That’s all for now. Harper’s resting, we’re both good though. He’ll be eight when you meet him. I can’t wait to see your faces.”

*

Time passes quicker once Jordan is born. They don’t get much sleep, but it’s fine because they don’t have much to do. Jordan is a happy baby. He smiles and laughs at everything, except his first taste of algae.

Monty and Harper tell him stories from the day he’s born. They talk about their time on the ark before they knew each other. They talk about the dropship days when they first met. They talk about the various wars they’ve been involved in. They tell him about their time back in space, with their space family. They tell him about Clarke and Madi and Octavia. They tell him about Jasper, his namesake. They make sure not to glorify anything, telling him that everyone made mistakes. They tell him that they tried to do better. They tell him that he will do better.

“But did Murphy really call the commander a hobbit?” Jordan asks. It’s his seventh birthday and Harper is telling him a story before bed.

“She wasn’t the commander yet,” Harper says, pulling the blankets up to his chin and kissing his forehead. “But yes, he did.”

Monty smiles at his little family. It’s everything he’s ever wanted. He misses the other members of his family, but they’re going to wake up soon. Maybe not in the year like they planned. But soon.

He hasn’t told Harper that something should have changed by now. He doesn’t know how to break the news to her that they’re not waking up their friends. It’ll break her heart. It’ll break Jordan’s. He’s so excited to have someone else to talk to. But it’s going to be another five years, at least.

He breaks it to them at dinner, a few days before Jordan’s birthday. At least that way they can do something special in a few days.

“Nothing has changed on the ground,” Monty tells them. “We can’t wake up our friends - our family yet.”

“We know, Monty,” Harper says quietly, reaching across the table to grab his hand. “We were prepared for this. We’ve got each other.”

He makes a video that night, explaining why he can’t wake any of them. It doesn’t really make him feel better, but having it on the record is good. At least they can see how regretful he is.

*

The next year is the hardest of all of them. Knowing that they’re not going to be waking up anyone anytime soon and not knowing when they’re going to be able to sucks.

They fight about waking up anyone, both of them knowing it’s the wrong choice but both of them wanting nothing more than to introduce their friends to their son. They argue about the idea of just waking up one person for a few weeks, knowing full well that they won’t go back to sleep. They discuss waking up another child, someone for Jordan to play with but then what would they do when it was time to put them back to into cryo. It would break Jordan’s heart, losing his friend.

So they don’t do it.

He doesn’t record a video for another year, he doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t want to leave any more messages with no news.

But on the ten year anniversary, he finally records a message.

“Happy wake up day,” he begins with a sigh. “Ten years. Since you’re watching this sometime in the future, you’ll know that I didn’t wake you up. That’s because there’s still nothing down there. I’m working the problem.”

He’d told Harper he’s not surprised, but really he doesn’t understand. It should have shown some sign of coming back by now. Some kind of life. But there’s not. There’s just nothing. The answer to _‘what planet would you rather?’_ is no longer earth.

“I told Harper it’s to be expected, but that’s a lie. This is going to take a while,” he takes a breath and decides to move onto a happier topic. “JJ’s doing great though. He’s a happy kid. Took a page from Clarke’s parenting book. He knows all about you guys. Believe it or not, Murphy is his favourite. Anyway, it’s going to be a while. I’ll update you next time there’s news.”

He ends the stream, taking a deep breath to control his emotions. He doesn’t know what to do from here. How is he going to fix this? How long can he keep them in cryo?

Jordan is asleep and he and Harper have just finished watching an old movie on the screen in the control room. He doesn’t really understand how a gorilla could be that big before the earth was irradiated, but it’s one of Harper’s favourites.

“What are we going to do now?” She asks, leaning on his shoulder and sighing.

He’s about to suggest going to bed when he realises what she really means. They had never talked about their plans longer than the ten years, but he supposes now is as good a time as any. “I don’t know.”

“Is it going to come back?”

“I don’t know,” he repeats, his eyes shut. Of course Harper knows that the earth isn’t coming back. He should have known she would figure it out. She knows him better than anyone.

“Is it worth putting ourselves into the cryo to see what happens in another decade?” She asks. She misses everyone. It’s tempting, so tempting. But it’s not going to work.

“I don’t think the earth is coming back,” Monty says quietly, ducking his head. “I think it’s time we look into Eligius III.” He's been playing with the idea for a while. He doesn't know what he's going to find, but it's the only idea he has.

“Monty,” Harper says quietly, “we can’t do that on our own.”

“Yes, we can,” he assures her. “We can do anything.”

“This is how we save our friends?” Harper asks, the memory of going back for Bellamy, Clarke, Murphy, Emori and Raven and before she was even part of their family, Echo clear in both their minds.

“This is how we save our friends,” Monty agrees, nodding his head.

Eligius III is harder to crack than he ever expected. He assumes even with Raven and Shaw’s help it would still take years. By Jordan’s twenty sixth birthday he knows he’s still not close. Jordan’s older than the rest of their friends now, except Bellamy and Echo. Monty’s known forever that he’s going to be much older than his family by the time they wake, but they don’t want their son to be.

The day they decide to put Jordan in cryo is one of the hardest days of both their lives. He doesn’t want to say goodbye and Harper and Monty though they say it’s only for a short while, Monty knows that there is every chance they may never see their son awake again.

They decide to make a new recording that evening. He hasn’t recorded anything since their ten year anniversary. There has been nothing to say. But he wants Jordan to know how much he means to them. He wants their family to understand how much they love them all. He wants Jordan to meet his heroes.

They stand in front of the camera, Monty’s arms wrapped around Harper. He fights to keep his voice steady.

“We just put Jordan in cryo,” he begins. “He’s a good boy.”

“Smart like his father,” Harper says, looking down.

“Yeah,” Monty says quietly because Jordan is smart. But he’s so much more. He’s genuine and pure and sweet. “And kind like his mum.”

They pause, both lost in their own thoughts about their son. About their sacrifice. He can’t bring himself to regret the decision they had made almost thirty years ago. The time with Harper and the child they had gotten out of it makes it worth it already. Plus, the chance to save his family and give them a place to grow. To do better than before.

“We chose this life, he didn’t,” he moves around to sit beside Harper. “Hey, if you’re watching this kiddo, we love you so much. Did you follow my instructions? Assuming he did - hey Bellamy. Hey Clarke. We wanted him to wake you first so we could talk. Earth… isn’t coming back. You’ve been asleep for over twenty-eight years and it’s as dead as the day we left. I’m working on a plan b though. If you’re awake that means we found it. I’ll see you again when I do.” He leans forward to switch off the camera but Harper stops him.

“Wait, not yet,” she says quietly. She takes a deep steadying breath, unable to completely disguise the sob. “Take care of our boy.”

Jordan is an adult now, he doesn’t need another mother and father. Harper and Monty have raised him. They’ve taught him to be good and kind. But he needs a family. And he knows their family will take him in with open arms. He just wishes he could be there to see it.

*

The day Monty finds out that Harper is sick, is the day that nearly breaks him. He’s close to cracking the code, close to finding out about Eligius III, but what does that even matter if he’s going to lost Harper?

He finds her on the floor in algae farm. He knows straight away that she’s collapsed.

“What happened?” He asks, pulling her into a sitting position and offering her some water.

“I’m sick, Monty,” she tells him, eyes shining with tears. “Clarke was right. My dad’s condition… it’s been getting worse for weeks.”

“Weeks?” Monty asks, shaking his head. How could he have missed that? How could she have kept that from him? “Harper, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want you to worry,” she says softly. 

He half carries her to bed and sits with her while she reads, getting her food and water as she needs it. He brings a laptop in so he can work with her. They don’t talk about waking Clarke or Abby up this time, they know there is nothing that can be done. Her dad had the same condition. She knows everything about it.

When she’s not feeling up to reading, they talk about the days where they had any semblance of peace. Instead, they talk about the dropship, being in space the first time, the twenty-six years they spent with their son. They talk about the times that make them smile and don’t think about the things that make them sad.

“Remember Echo kicking Bellamy under the table in those first few weeks?” Monty says, quietly in the early hours of the morning in what he’s sure is Harper’s last few weeks. She likes hearing him talk, so he tells her everything he’s doing, everything he’s thinking. “When he said the algae was the most vile thing he’d ever tasted? They weren’t even friends then. I actually thought he was going to kill her.”

“Remember Emori tipping it over Murphy’s instead of eating it?” Harper says, a small smile on her face. “And she started a food fight.”

“It was the first time I saw Bellamy smile while we were up there,” Monty agrees, also smiling at the memory.

“Imagine Jordan growing up with them,” she says. “It would have been so nice to see him have a family.”

“He has a family,” Monty assures her, reaching for her hand. “When they wake up. He’s got them.”

“I miss them so much,” she says softly, “I wish I could say goodbye.”

“Me too,” Monty says, gripping her hand tighter. He hasn’t told her yet, but he’s not going to put himself in cryo once she goes. He’s going to find a way to make his family survive and then he’s going to wait out the rest of his life. He’s lived his life with her. It’s been good. He has a family, friends and a son. It’s been peaceful and he's been happy.

Harper falls asleep not long after the conversation and Monty pulls his laptop out again. He’s so close to cracking The Eligius III mission file. He has no proof that it holds the answers he needs, but it’s the only lead he has. He’s not sure what he’s going to do if it’s another dead end.

He’s typing furiously, though distracted, lost in thought about the days before everyone he knew was in cryosleep when the screen in front of him changes. He takes his brain a moment to catch up to what his eyes are seeing and then he realises he’s finally done it. He’s unlocked the files.

“Harper,” he says excitedly, gently shaking her awake. “Harper, I cracked the file.”

“What is it?” She mumbles, rolling to face to him. “Can you save them?”

“It wasn’t a mining mission,” he tells her, skim reading the file. “They were looking for another planet.” The more he reads, the more hope blooms in his chest. This might be it, this might be the way to save his friends. Eligius III never made contact with earth again, but he’s fairly certain they found a planet that was survivable. If he can get their ship to the new planet, he’s sure Bellamy and Clarke can do the rest. He’s done it. He’s found a way to save them all.

He and Harper celebrate that night with the last of the rations that they brought up from the ground. They had only been eating them on birthdays and special occasions or when one of them was feeling particularly down. Tonight, they gorge themselves on what’s left until they’ve both eaten enough that they feel sick. They watch a movie in bed, something animated that Monty doesn’t really understand but has Harper laughing. And he loves hearing her laugh, he chases the sound everywhere.

They fall asleep as the credits roll, arms wrapped around each other and for the first time in fifty years they don’t have the responsibility of saving the human race weighing on them.

Harper passes away a week later, peacefully in her sleep, her hand clasping Monty’s. They’d been talking about the new planet a week before, content that they’re never going to see it but their family is going to. They make a new game, rather than _‘what planet would you rather,_ ’ they call it ‘ _on the new planet_.’ They try to imagine what’s there, what it looks like, if there are people and what their family is going to do there. It's nice, imagining their family starting afresh. 

She’s been asleep for an hour when Monty knows she’s gone. Her hand goes slack in his and he feels his world crumble.

The woman he loves is gone and the only comfort he has is that they lived a long life together. He thinks of their family, their son and all the good they’ve done and he finds himself smiling through his tears. They saved the world.

He’s moving to the control room to film his final video log before he even realises what he’s doing. It’s a slow process. His bones are old and tired, but he has to do it. He switches the camera on and settles into his seat before he starts speaking.

“Jordan,” he begins, keeping his voice steady. He's almost glad that he doesn't have to see his face as he tells him this, “your mother died today. She was pretty sick the last few years. Clarke, you were right. Her dad’s genetic condition finally got her.” He hopes he doesn’t sound as bitter as he feels. Clarke was young when she chose not to include Harper on the list for the bunker because of a condition that might kill her. Not being on that list meant they got to spend six years in space, with five of their favourite people. That doesn’t matter now anyway.

“We had a good life. Sometimes… I know she wanted to be with you guys. Maybe I did too. But if we did that… I wouldn't be able to show you this. Son, open the window,” he imagines Jordan, Bellamy and Clarke watching the screen lift up and seeing the new planet before them. It brings a smile to his face. “It took me thirty years but I finally cracked the Eligius III mission files. It wasn’t a mining mission, after sucking the earth dry of oil, they were looking for another planet to tap.” He doesn’t say anything for a minute, he’s lost in thoughts of the new planet and of all the good his son, family and friends are going to do there.

“I set the coordinates a week ago and if I’m right, you should get there in seventy-five years. I’m tempted to put myself in cryo to see it, but without Harper…” without Harper, it’s not worth it. “Anyway, it’s in the Goldilocks zone of a binary star system. But that’s all I know. Eligius III never radioed back, or if they did, it was after Apocalypse One and no one ever heard it.”

He’s quiet again, still thinking about what the new planet could possibly hold. “Can you see it? Is it beautiful? I hope we do better there. I hope Jasper was wrong and we weren’t the problem. I hope your lives there will be as happy as mine has been… be the good guys.”

He takes a final deep breath. He knows this is the last thing any of them will hear him say. “May we meet again.”

He switches leans forward and switches the camera off, watching the screen fade to black.

 

**Author's Note:**

> [My tumblr is here!](http://raven-reyes-of-sunshine.tumblr.com) 
> 
> Remember when I said I’d only write bellarke and I will not write canon?


End file.
